#diaper laundry

[neekathecatlady]

Diaper Laundry

will be the death of me. 

Seriously. 

[mompodge]

Dirty Diaper Laundry Days

As promised (albeit quite belated), I have am now posting a blog about my first experience washing my new (and dirty) cloth diapers!  I was convinced that I would somehow ruin these precious pieces of cloth if I even looked at them the wrong way, but I was sorely mistaken. (I mean, we are talking about stuff that gets poop all over it…that's right…POOP!)  Washing cloth diapers is so much easier than I thought it would be!  

Since our little Jellybean is still being exclusively breastfed, I have yet to invest in a diaper sprayer.  Her poo is all water-based right now anyway, so there's been no need for me to fling anything into the toilet.  All I had to do was take my wet bag from our diaper changing station to the washer, unzip, dump, and flip it inside out before dropping it in there as well.  I filled up my detergent dispenser with Tide and my washer did the rest of the work.  (Since then, I have also used All Free and Clear detergent, but I switched back to Tide because I like that the diapers actually have a clean smell as opposed to no smell at all…if that makes sense…)I set it to a cold rinse and spin cycle and then did a "Heavy Duty" load hot wash with an extra rinse.  The diapers came out looking brand new and I actually stuffed my face in them to test out how they smelled…and it was beautiful!

I decided to tumble dry on low.  Since then, I often mix up the drying process based on how I'm feeling and how much time I have on my hands.  If I'm feeling extra "green," I hang them on the cool drying rack my hubby bought for me.  If I'm feeling lazy, I just throw the whole load in the dryer and set it to medium heat.  Like I said…these things get pooped on…a little tumble in the dryer hasn't had any negative consequences for the diapers as of yet.

And that's it.  Nothing earth shattering.  Nothing technical.  No loopholes.  No exceptions.  Just clean, fresh diapers that I get to use all over again.  That's the kind of bang for my buck that I enjoy! :)

[missmommy09]

Cloth Diaper Wash Routine in a Front Loader

After a few months with our new front loading washing machine and some trial and error, I think I've figured out a good wash routine for my #cloth diapers. For a while some of my inserts were coming out of the dryer with a faint urine smell still on them, so I made some adjustments to my routine and I think it's worked well. For anyone with a front-loading machine, maybe this will help you if you're trying to figure out a wash routine: The key is getting enough water to pass through your diapers during the rinse/washing process, and with front loaders it's a bit more of a challenge since the cycles use less water than traditional top loaders do! I've found this works best to get my diapers nice and clean: I use a dry pail with a lid to store dirtied diapers in a pail liner, and wash diapers every other/every 2 days. I use a diaper sprayer to spray poopies. I make my own detergent. Initial RINSE: Warm rinse, on Delicate/Handwash Cycle. (Delicate/Handwash cycle uses the most water and gives a great rinse to the diapers) NO detergent. NO spin. (No spin is important, this leaves the diapers sopping wet and heavy in the drum, tricking your machine into spitting out more water for your next step; your wash with detergent.) HOT WASH: Normal or Heavy Duty wash cycle, HOT temperature, 1-2 scoops of your choice of detergent, NO spin. (No spin again, to make the diapers heavy enough to trick your washer into using more water for your next step, the final rinse.) Final Rinse: Cold Tempurature. For this cycle I'll either do another Delicate/Handwash cycle with NO detergent or the Rinse+Spin cycle option on my washer. Both seem to use enough water to really rinse my diapers clean of any residue or detergent. Select a medium/high spin. I hang dry my pockets and covers, and I throw all my inserts and fitteds in the dryer for normal dry on high until dry. Message me with any questions you may have, I've read a TON of advice and forums on cloth wash routines!